Kittinger's jump was better - the lack of technology alone is what makes it ballsy.

Click to expand...

I think both were pretty ballsy, but you're right, his jump was on a wing and a prayer, 52 years ago! This kind of puts it into perspective:

On August 16, 1960, he made the final jump, from the Excelsior III, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m).[2] Towing a small drogue parachute for initial stabilization, he fell for 4 minutes and 36 seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 614 miles per hour (988 km/h)[4][5] before opening his parachute at 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Pressurization for his right glove malfunctioned during the ascent, and his right hand swelled to twice its normal size.[6][7] Ignoring the pain, he rode the balloon up to 102,800 feet and said a short prayer — “Lord, take care of me now” — before stepping off.[8]

Click to expand...

Sunday they would have called it off had anything remotely like that happened.

Funny, looks like a Craftsman toolbox strapped to his ass in this picture

Many discoveries in science and technology were achieved due to ... wars. Everybody thinks that wars are bad, and wars are bad, but many times wars played role of gears of science. Some philosophers say that without wars humanity will cease to exist. It's quite a controversial thing but not meaningless. However it's sad that governments spend more money on militay crap while there's a lot of other things that need money. Ok I digress ...

Click to expand...

Sad as it is, it's true. Just look at airplane technology from before WW1 to after WW2. They went from dropping hand grenades from planes made from balsa and canvas to dropping nuclear weapons from 36 piston engined bombers, not to mention germany had jet fighters and rocket planes. War is frickin expensive though; not to mention loss of life

Many discoveries in science and technology were achieved due to ... wars. Everybody thinks that wars are bad, and wars are bad, but many times wars played role of gears of science. Some philosophers say that without wars humanity will cease to exist. It's quite a controversial thing but not meaningless. However it's sad that governments spend more money on militay crap while there's a lot of other things that need money. Ok I digress ...

Click to expand...

Its funny you say that, the US is working on a power system for its aircraft carriers that runs off of salt water. They said they will have the first prototype IN SERVICE by 2020.

It's not wars. It's motivation. Either motivation to solve a problem or motivation for funding it, i.e. governments pouring embarrashingly big loads of money into it. Now the sad part and the thing that humanity should figure out, is: why is human being more motivated to destroy other humans than it is about nearly any other thing.

It's not wars. It's motivation. Either motivation to solve a problem or motivation for funding it, i.e. governments pouring embarrashingly big loads of money into it. Now the sad part and the thing that humanity should figure out, is: why is human being more motivated to destroy other humans than it is about nearly any other thing.

Sad as it is, it's true. Just look at airplane technology from before WW1 to after WW2. They went from dropping hand grenades from planes made from balsa and canvas to dropping nuclear weapons from 36 piston engined bombers, not to mention germany had jet fighters and rocket planes. War is frickin expensive though; not to mention loss of life

Click to expand...

WW2 started the age of computers. First computers were used for artillery and ballistics because it's all about maths and algorithms. Computers were also important to encrypt and decipher messages.

Computers, satellites and stuff are all came from the need of war and surveillance. Of course it's not necessity but it's not a coincidence either. I don't say that technology is a machine of war

He did say he was spinning out of control which is what they were hoping wouldn't happen, but he was able to gain control pretty quickly. He also said he could see anything as the visor was fogging up.

Many discoveries in science and technology were achieved due to ... wars. Everybody thinks that wars are bad, and wars are bad, but many times wars played role of gears of science. Some philosophers say that without wars humanity will cease to exist. It's quite a controversial thing but not meaningless. However it's sad that governments spend more money on militay crap while there's a lot of other things that need money. Ok I digress ...

Click to expand...

its the fact of killing one another, i mean each country has enough of that from their own people.

As for the spinning out of control, I wonder if reaching the sound barrier helped him straighten out since the sonic pressure was building up around him. Upon the video and infrared, there seems to be two sound barrier sparks displayed. Amazing to see a human reach that level. Just think, in the next 50 years, people can just re-enter from space to earth like a common event. However, it takes a dare-devil to first set things in motion. Just like the morning at Kitty Hawk.

As for the spinning out of control, I wonder if reaching the sound barrier helped him straighten out since the sonic pressure was building up around him. Upon the video and infrared, there seems to be two sound barrier sparks displayed. Amazing to see a human reach that level. Just think, in the next 50 years, people can just re-enter from space to earth like a common event. However, it takes a dare-devil to first set things in motion. Just like the morning at Kitty Hawk.

Click to expand...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOSE - Jumping from 400,000 feet (where the ISS is) would cause you to go about 7,000 MPH when you hit 120,000 feet. There will never be a skydive from that high up lol

One high-altitude balloon record is still held by Joe Kittinger, however: Back in 1960 the US Air Force colonel free fell for 4 minutes 35 seconds from an altitude of 108,000 feet, while Baumgartner only managed 4 minutes 20 seconds, despite jumping from 30,000 feet higher. This discrepancy is likely caused by the fact that Baumgartner achieved significantly higher speeds than Kittinger, and so the free fall phase ended quicker than expected.

Baumgartner also isn’t technically eligible for the manned balloon altitude world record, as the governing body stipulates that the balloon must be brought back to Earth by the pilot — while Baumgartner rather recklessly just left the balloon hanging there in the stratosphere.